Although Samsung quickly moved to quell fears by telling users that they could deactivate voice recognition or disconnect their TVs from their Wi-Fi network, the very fact that a such clause was inserted into the privacy policy in the first place should be disconcerting, if not downright frightening.

Here we look at some of those devices, along with what exactly they’re recording, and who’s benefitting:

Sense

What is it?

Manufactured by Hello, the Sense device claims to be “the first system for understanding your sleep and bedroom”. It comes in two parts – a bedside device which monitors external factors such as noise, light, temperature, humidity and particles in the air, and a “Sleep Pill” which attaches to your pillow and monitors your movements and the quality of your sleep by using an accelerometer and gyroscope. It was one of the most-backed Kickstarter projects of last year.

Why should you be concerned?

The bedside device contains an “always-on” microphone, with all audio sent back to Sense’s cloud for easy playback by its owners. While eight hours of snoring might not be very interesting, there are an untold number of reasons why this is a privacy nightmare, with anything from personal details to the sound of two consenting adults being put into a space that the owner has no control over.

Most worrying? A glance at Hello’s privacy policy shows that the company takes no responsibility when it comes to deleting your information, saying:

“You agree that Hello has no responsibility or liability for the deletion of or failure to store any data or other content maintained or uploaded by the service.”

It means that if you accidentally discuss your finances, reveal your personal data, or discuss other sensitive topics, that audio could be stored in the cloud for a long, long time.

Why should you be concerned?

In order to function effectively, smart fridges need to connect to your Wi-Fi network, and that means that they can be commandeered by hackers and criminals. In fact, Dawn Meyerriecks, the Deputy Director of the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology recently told the Aspen Security Centre Forum in Colorado that “Smart refrigerators have been used in distributed denial of service attacks”, and claimed that “At least one smart fridge played a role in a massive spam attack last year, involving more than 100,000 Internet-connected devices and more than 750,000 spam emails”.

This raises wider concerns about security within the Internet of Things. The nature of the sector means access points are going to grow exponentially over the coming years, and while a typical home user might currently have less than ten access points that need to be secured, the IoT could expand that number into the hundreds. Without adequate security, everything from your fridge to your in-car entertainment system could become a potentially exploitable route into your personal data and information.

Why should you be concerned?

“Valet Mode” allows you to monitor you own car remotely, while the “Performance Data Recorder” and tracks data such as GPS location, speed, RPM, gears, and distance driven. The concerning part is that its privacy policy entitles Chevrolet to profile driving activity and sell it in an “anonymous and aggregated form” to third parties – meaning other companies will have access to how and where you drive. Could this information eventually find its way into the hands of the police? Possibly. For example, is it that hard to imagine cloud-based speeding tickets in the not-to-distant future?

What is it?

The iSmart Alarm is a cloud-based, real-time, “intelligent”, home security system. It was founded out of Silicon Valley back in 2012 and has gone on to win multiple awards from publications such as CNet and PC Mag. It offers on-demand video streaming from around your home, control of all your electrical outlets, instant notifications of intruders, control over your lighting, and remote control management of the system.

Why should you be concerned?

The idea of streaming video of your empty house to the Internet should instantly ring alarm bells. Where is the data stored? Who has access to it? Could criminals determine your movements to establish a pattern of whether or not you’re at home? Would the alarm manufacturer also be notified if you got a notification about an intrusion?

Concerns of this nature extend to all “smart systems” in the home. For example, would the manufacturer of a Wi-Fi based entertainment system be able to get information about your choice of audio? Would energy companies ultimately get access to data provided by your smart thermostat, allowing them to hike their rates if they know you’re using the air conditioning?

What is it?

Xbox Kinect is an add-on for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console. It uses a camera to monitor and record a player’s movements, enabling them to both interact with WindowsHow To Control Your Windows PC With KinectHow To Control Your Windows PC With KinectLast time, I introduced you to Kinect hacking on the PC and the drivers involved, as well as a basic zombie survival game demo. While killing zombies is awesome, it's time we moved onto doing...Read More, games and issue spoken commands. It was originally Microsoft’s response to the popularity of the Nintendo Wii, but has since become an integral part of Microsoft’s entertainment product suite.

Why should you be concerned?

Originally, it was Microsoft’s intention to make it an “always-on” device, but users were not happy. It’s no surprise, and it’s all because of the power of the device’s camera. As the company itself boasts:

“Microsoft’s Xbox One system has a high-definition camera that can monitor players at thirty frames per second. Using a technology called Time of Flight, it can track the movement of individual photons, picking up minute alterations in a viewer’s skin colour to measure blood flow, then calculate changes in heart rate. The software can monitor six people simultaneously, in visible or infra-red light, charting their gaze and their basic emotional states”.

Are you comfortable with Microsoft knowing your emotional state at any given moment? Probably not…

Who is Benefiting?

As with almost everything privacy related, two main groups of people stand to benefit: advertisers and criminals.

While it is true that all the gadgets naturally aim to bring benefits to the user – be those entertainment benefits, practical benefits, or health benefits – all the gadgets we listed also offer clear benefits to manufacturers and advertisers. The manufacturer can collect user data and sell it to third parties, who can then use it to build up a consumer profile of your likes and dislikes – serving you differing adverts depending on your preferences, your mood, or what time of day it is. Ultimately, it means both parties are making a lot of money off your usage of their products.

What do you think?

Is it worth knowing how much milk you’ve got left or how frequently you woke up during the night in order to expose yourself to these risks?

Are some of these smart gadgets really designed with the user in mind, or are they strategies developed by corporate entities to exploit us in every way possible? Do we actually need a car that tells us the average RPM during our last journey?

We’d love to hear your thoughts, you can leave your feedback in the comments below.

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Michael Sanders

April 9, 2015 at 10:30 am

Sadly, the weakening consciousness of American consumers (who have become enamored and enthralled with assistive technology) will only increase the divide between universal adoption and the very real loss of personal privacy.

Big Brother's romance with data aggregators who sell our private details to the highest bidder will fund further violations by both government and industry. Good luck suing any corporate giant whose violations of your privacy are both sponsored and endorsed by the government.
As George Orwell would say, you ain't seem nothin' yet!

I think that IOT is an over-convenience. It reminds me of an automatic can opener (really only beneficial for someone with arthritis). Thank you, but I can crank that thing myself and at least use my muscles a bit. I think it is better for my mental ability and cognitive/intellectual health to continue to be able to mentally track what is in my fridge.

I once spoke with a friend who moved to Miami. For his first year, he used GPS navigation to tell him where to go. After about a year, he realized that he did not know his way around the city at all. The smart fridge among other smart devices remind me of this. With this over-convenience you can end up becoming dependent in a really unhealthy way. It can easily make your mind weaker, not stronger. Before people groups have had the "technology" of writing, they needed to memorize their traditions and stories. Therefore those who did this developed an ability for it and therefore had stronger minds for memorization.

It has been concerning to me to help students who's PC's have really been overtaken by bloatware and other features, and they do not realize that they are not really in control of their computer as much as they think they are. IOT in my opinion can easily become a step further in this direction. I have heard family members, students, and other faculty members tell me so many times, "It is telling me to do this." Then I say, no, you don't need that program, or no, don't do that.

I think we can get in a rut sometimes of thinking that more is better. Does having a smart watch, smart fridge, or smart thermostat really make my life that much better? No. "More convenient" is not always better.

Is the convenience these Smart gizmos offer worth the loss of privacy and security? Because no matter what Microsoft and all the other self-serving companies would have us believe, if it uses WiFi, it is insecure.

Thanks for getting in touch. It's great to know that Microsoft takes security so seriously - for a company of their size they absolutely should. There's always a criminal risk though - it only takes one rogue employee or a sophisticated thief to exploit even the most robust systems; we've seen it countless times with countless companies. Fingers crossed these product providers start to wise-up and invest more in anti-hacker tech.

I feel that I must point out with regards to the Kinect device, Microsoft does in fact put a lot of the control of the use and data obtained to be regulated by the user. They have stated responsibly what is and isn't recorded and made available via the device camera and microphones. Microsoft is NO stranger to security issues as they have a long and storied history with it. Privacy is very much at the forefront of everything they do, therefore they have controls in place, made available to each and every user account to disable and not participate in anything that may be of concern to us regarding our data and account information. I can't really say anything about the others but I made sure to know 100% about what I have and any possible security issues. That said, its pretty great that this article was written, thank you.

Dan is a British expat living in Mexico. He is currently a Senior Writer for MakeUseOf. At various times, he has been the Social Editor, Creative Editor, and Finance Editor. He is also an Editor for MUO's sister site, Blocks Decoded. Prior to his writing career, he was a Financial Consultant. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.